Albert's Attic Gallery

Dating from the early fifties, the 'Model 71' consisted of a centre-fed wire dipole and reflector; it was a version of the beloved 'H' aerial, in fact, and therefore possessed 'Directional Properties'. Made for band I only, the channel number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) was stamped on the box. The instructions are far from clear. Having paid his 26/6d (£1.32½) the installer opened the little box to find a lot of wire, a terminal block, and some springs. It probably didn't seem much for the price, since at the time you could buy five Woodbines, have a night at the pictures, get fish and chips on the way home, and still have change from a tanner - or at least, that's what Albert says. . .

The aerial was to be laid out on the floor, where it should resemble an 'H'. It was then hung from 'woodscrews affixed to the woodwork', with further screws at the bottom providing tension, and keeping 'all wires straight and parallel, except for the centre wire which must be perfectly horizontal'. It must have been very difficult to follow the further instructions, which recommended rotating the aerial to eliminate ghosting. A bit like pitching your tent and then deciding to face it the other way! That aside, the installer was assured that the aerial had 'extremely low rearward response, so that interference from behind the aerial is negligible'. It is confidently asserted that 'the aerial can be used to eliminate ghost images'. The channel 1 version had elements over 10 feet (3 metres) long, so the loft would need to very high. As a compromise, the bottom few feet of the lower elements could be turned out horizontally. No mention is made of horizontal polarisation, which is surprising because that transmission mode was in use during the early 1950s. Maybe they thought it wouldn't catch on! Suitable cables included 50 and 70Ω coax, and 75Ω twin feeder. In those days it was by no means certain that the tv set would have a Belling aerial socket. Some still had two terminal posts, and some had a saddle-clamp connector. Albert also has vague memories of a two-pin plug, with the smaller pin used for the coaxial inner.

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